


Setting the Pace

by Alramech



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Voldemort
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-02-26
Packaged: 2019-03-24 05:29:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13804425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alramech/pseuds/Alramech
Summary: A new year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry means welcoming new first years, welcoming back returning students, and offering new classes to the students. There is one new class being offered to older students that will give those taking the class the opportunity to get up close and personal with the Granian! In the class, students will gain first-hand experience taking care of these majestic creatures in addition to being taught how to properly ride them by highly experienced and renowned instructors.





	Setting the Pace

A new year at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry means welcoming new first years, welcoming back returning students, and offering new classes to the students. There is one new class being offered to older students that will give those taking the class the opportunity to get up close and personal with the Granian! In the class, students will gain first-hand experience taking care of these majestic creatures in addition to being taught how to properly ride them by highly experienced and renowned instructors.

The first thing the group of Gryffindors noticed was the wide dirt track that surrounded the field. The other main change was the long rectangular building behind and off to the side of the Quidditch pitch. They had all decided to take the new class dubbed 'Management, Skill, and Showmanship of Winged Horses.'

Ginny and Hermione were excited to interact with such beautiful creatures, Harry and Ron took the class because they thought that it couldn't be that much different than riding a broom, and Neville, however, wasn't quite sure why he took the class.

As they neared the center, they ran into some people they were less than pleased to see. With green ties and pristine robes, Pansy Parkinson, Blaise Zabini, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe all stood with glares matching the ones the Gryffindor's wore. They were broken out of their glaring match by a young man who looked to be in his early 20's with dark ruffled hair and pale skin covering in freckles. The man was wearing a crisp white long sleeve button-up with the sleeves rolled up and first couple buttons were undone. The shirt was tucked into tight black pants and on his feet were a pair of shiny black boots. The neatly dressed man strolled towards the two groups and as he approached, they noticed the stunning blue that colored his slightly squinted eyes; the result of the smile he had on his face.

"Bonjour!" The man exclaimed throwing his arms open wide, his smile widening. The students were slightly taken aback by his use of French greeting, but they were even more surprised as they realized that it wasn't just a greeting like one would say 'hola.' "My name is Sebastian Bellerose and I will be your professeur, but please call me Sebastian because Professor Bellerose makes me feel old," their instructor joked. Sebastian noticed their strange expressions and chuckled. "Oui, I am from France," he rolled his eyes with a smile. "I attended Beauxbaton and graduated not that long ago," Sebastian paused as if looking back at fond memories. "Alright, now let's-" Suddenly the Frenchman paused mid-sentence after noticing everyone was now looking past him rather than at him. He turned around and lo-and-behold there was Draco Malfoy with his head held high and swagger in his walk, sauntering towards the gathering.

"You're late Monsieur Malfoy," the instructor stated with a small smile as he rolled his eyes.

"Well, it appears that my father took the liberty to send over some items and I had to make sure all my tack and equipment arrived undamaged," he replied smugly. Sebastian looked at him with his arms crossed and disappointment clear on his face. Everyone's eyes widened; they thought Sebastian seemed very friendly and more laid back than most of their professors, but maybe it was all a mask or a front he put on. . . The students were then pulled out of their slightly-frightened thoughts by Sebastian's loud and joyous laughter. Malfoy only smirked and started towards the man, who straightened up and met him halfway, pulling the blonde-haired boy into a quick hug before proceeded to sling his arm around the shorter boy's shoulders.

"I can't believe your father managed to set this all up!" He exclaimed sweeping his other hand over the modified field and stables.

"Well, he has some pocket money to spare, and after seeing us play and compete all summer, he realized that this hobby could go further. He's looking into buying that club we play at quite often," he stated, smirking.

"It's about time we got a home field!" Sebastian laughed before turning back to the wide-eyed students. "Alright, so let's get started!" He smiled walking towards the group who watched wide-eyed. "So my name is Sebastian Marceau Bellerose, as I said earlier, and I am 20 years old. I am a Winged Horse Trainer, Riding Instructor, as well as a Quidd-Polo player and Outrider. I usually work for the Malfoy's training their Granians." Ginny raised her hand. "I'll answer your questions at the end, but first I want to learn your names and experience with riding of any sorts," he gestured to Blaise Zabini first.

"First off, nice to see you again 'Rose," he smirked, causing the said man to roll his eyes. "I'm Blaize Zabini, and I have quite a bit of riding experience. Pureblood and all."

"Hey, Bastian, nice to see you," Pansy winked. "Pansy Parkinson, I like riding but I never got that into it. Though I'd quite like to try Flying Dressage."

"Gregory Goyle, I've ridden here and there," he shrugged.

"Vincent Crabbe, same as Goyle," he stated simply, neither going into further detail.

"I'm Ginny Weasley, and I've only gone riding a few times, but I'd love to do it more," Ginny stated smiling openly.

"Ummm, I'm Neville Longbottom, and I've ridden once or twice," he stated nervously.

"Ron Weasley. I've never ridden before, but it can't be much different from a broom can it?" He shrugged with a smirk. "Besides, if ferret-boy can do it, it can't be that hard!"

"My name is Hermione Granger, and I've only ever ridden regular horses, but I can't wait to ride flying ones!" She said enthusiastically.

"I'm Harry Potter," he paused momentarily, waiting for a reaction but smiled at receiving none and continued. "I've never ridden before, but I like flying on brooms," he added. Sebastian looked at the blonde standing next to him and smiled. He rolled his eyes.

"Draco Malfoy. I'm a Granian Horse Racing Jockey, Quidd-Polo player, and Eventer."

"Alright!" Sebastian clapped his hands together. "Today we are going to assign the horses you'll be riding, courtesy of Malfoy Stables!" Sebastian beckoned them to follow him towards the stables. "So has anyone heard of Quidd-Polo?" Sebastian asked as the students followed.

"Quidd-Polo is a wizard sport founded by Stoddard Withers. The game is a mix between the games of Quidditch and Polo, a muggle horse riding sport. The sport consists of four players on a Quidditch field with many of the same rules as Quidditch," Hermione recites from memory causing a majority of the students, both Gryffindor and Slytherin, to roll their eyes.

"Exactly," Sebastian praised. "Though there are three chasers and one seeker in this game. Now, Quidditch-Polo along with Granian Racing is considered 'Pureblood' sports but most players are actually Half-Bloods who have experience with normal horses. Draco's parents sponsor the Quidditch-Polo team he and myself play on, in addition to hosting many Winged Horse events such as Ring Jumping, Granian Racing, and Flying Dressage, which is basically Dressage but in the air. At the end of class, I will be handing you a textbook on the history and fundamentals for your reference, but I expect you to at least search words you don't know outside of class," Sebastian concludes as they entered the barn. The barn looked small and kind of old on the outside but the inside had been enlarged greatly and it was very fancy looking.

"How could the school get all of this?" Neville asked in awe as the Slytherins and Gryffindors spread out a little bit, absorbing everything in their sight.

"My father, of course," Malfoy snorted as he walked slightly ahead. There was probably around 20 horses of all shapes and colors in the barn, many of which had their head poking over the stall door.

"I will assign you each a Granian that you will be using for the duration of this class and then I will take out my own mount to give you a demonstration about some basics and tacking up," Sebastian grabbed a clipboard and glanced over the names.

"What about me?" Draco asked raising an eyebrow.

"You can just go and check your precious equipment and your million-dollar horse," Sebastian waved him off. Draco huffed and rolled his eyes, strolling towards the back of the barn. "Alright, every horse has a registered name, but because those are fairly long, we will probably be referring to their Stable Name, got it?" He received nods in confirmation. "Good." Sebastian walked over to a stall near the center of the rows. "Hermione, this is Caffeine Induced and her nicknamed is Coca. She is a strong-willed mare who isn't afraid to put other horses in their place, but be careful because she can be a little stubborn at times," Sebastian introduced the chocolate colored mare. Hermione smiled and put her hand on the round cheek of her future mount.

"Next to her is Lacking Control," he gestured to a red roan horse. "He's a little too... unpredictable," Sebastian struggled to find the right word before moving on. "Then here we have Sterling Silver and Nile Queen or Queenie, a very spoiled mare I might add," Sebastian chuckles. "But Pansy, I think you two will get along great," he states as Pansy rubs the mare's forelock.

"Well aren't you beautiful," Pansy states, happy she didn't get one of the uglier looking horses.

"Ginny, you will be riding Marigolden, or Marie for short," he introduced a palomino mare with white markings on her body before moving down the aisle once more. Ginny smiled and rubbed Marigolden's face gently.

"Ron, this is Parzival's Legend," Sebastian directed the red-headed teen. "He got his name from how he sometimes stands so still and upright that he looked like a knight's steed, so they named him after one of King Arthur's knights of the round table," Sebastian explained further after receiving confused looks. Ron looked pleased with the answer and decided against approaching the horse in favor of admiring from afar. The rest of the introductions went by fairly quickly; Blaise's mount was a dark brown stallion by the name Whisky Chance, and Harry was assigned a brown and white mix colored stallion by the name Overwhelming Odds. Crabbe got a dun-colored stallion named Desert Raider whereas Goyle got a black stallion with brown accents by the name Blackjack. Neville was the last one assigned to an easy-tempered mare of a light creme color named Ivory Pride.

"So how come Malfoy gets a million-dollar horse?" Ron asks stubbornly, quoting Sebastian's earlier words to the blonde.

"That's because it is his horse Mr. Weasley," Sebastian answers, not too pleased with Ron's behavior. "And I will be riding my own personal mount, Will 'o the Wisp." Walking them over to the back near Draco, the Frenchman unlocked the stall across the aisle from the rich pureblood's supposed million dollar horse. Leading out his black and white stallion, Sebastian warned them not to stand behind the horse.

"You do not want to get kicked, do you?" He questioned as he kept walking, the students making sure to stay far enough behind the horse as they left the stable. "Alright, so let me show you how to tack up your horse," he started, explaining in some detail how to work the buckles and where to place the saddle on the mount's back. In the middle of an in-depth explanation about the straps that keep the saddle on the horse, another taller and more intimidating man arrived. Sebastian was oblivious to the extra presence until the man moved to the other side of his horse. Once the instructor looked up, he gasped in shock and smiled widely.

"Markell!" He exclaimed approaching the taller man, holding the sides of his face as he pressed a quick kiss to either cheek in greeting before taking a step back. "You told me you would not be here until a week from now because you had business to do at the estate concerning the transfer!"

"Mr. Malfoy had an advisor to take care of it," the man answered with a shrug. His voice was gruff with a watered-down German accent that complimented his body type; broad-shoulders and built like a tank.

"Wonderful!" Sebastian grinned happily with a smile that creased the corners of his eyes. The man gave a small smile before introducing himself.

"My name is Markell Schmidt and I will be one of your instructors," he explained.

"Why is there going to be two instructors?" Ginny asked with confusion written on her face.

"Because there will need to be more of us in the case that something happens. One person can only retrieve so many students if they fall at the same time," answered Sebastian with a shrug, smile still in place.

"There was going to be three of us," Markell grumbled as he crossed his arms, the smile wiped off his face. It appeared Sebastian was affected too, because his smile became more of a grimace and he shifted uncomfortably. He cleared his throat before forcing a smile.

"You'll just have to settle with Dray," the Frenchman added. "He would be an instructor but of course because he's a student he'll just be helping." A look of disgust was visible over many of the Gryffindors' faces whereas the Slytherins were all fairly amused by the thought of their housemate saving someone.

"Now, let us finish the lesson before our time comes to an end!" Sebastian exclaimed before jumping back into his explanation about different types of saddles.


End file.
